Thornton Heath Chronicle Youth Edition published

Palace for Life Foundation PlayMaker and Editor at the Thornton Heath Chronicle, Andrea Perry, believed that as part of the PlayMakers initiative, it would be fantastic to give young people the opportunity to produce a special Youth Edition of the newspaper. Zaynab Osman, Business Support Officer at the Foundation, was integral to the success of the Thornton Heath Youth Chronicle as Editor, and summarised the project:

With large sums of investment, an ever-improving art scene, the development of Westfield Shopping Centre, and the £100 million redevelopment plans to Selhurst Park, there are a host of reasons why Croydon is one of the most exciting places to live right now, writes Zaynab Osman.

As a staunch supporter of all things south London and a lifelong football fan, I was excited to discover and start working for the Palace for Life Foundation, the official charity of Crystal Palace Football Club (CPFC). The Foundation has been working with young people for over 25 years, helping young south Londoners grow through the power of sport, inspiring them to find a better path in life, for a better life.

Palace for Life Foundation’s pilot PlayMakers project, jointly funded by the Premier League and the Professional Footballers Association, creates a connection between local young people, who generally have limited social networks, and CPFC supporters in powerful and/or influential positions across London’s business, media, public and voluntary sectors.

Our PlayMakers opportunity has really captured the imagination and every week members of the CPFC community have been getting in contact to ask how they can get involved. That sums up Palace really; a great community club!

London is often cited as a magnet for global talent, and Croydon is a hot-bed for success with individuals like grime artist Stormzy, supermodel Kate Moss, comedian Michael Dapah AKA Big Shaq, CPFC’s head coach Roy Hodgson, former Great British Bake Off star Sue Perkins, and singer Adele, all having links to the local area.

Andrea Perry, PlayMaker and Editor at The Thornton Heath Chronicle, believed it would be a really special opportunity to give some of the talented young people across Thornton Heath a chance to gain hands-on experience of publishing a community newspaper.

Over the last five months we have had workshops and training to support our group of young journalists to develop their writing, interviewing and reporting skills.

We have also been lucky enough to be able to call on some other local talented professionals such as Emmanuelle Waeckerle and Khalil Goddard to host photography and creative writing workshops for the group.

Our young journalists have benefited from the real life experience; one which they would not ordinarily have had.

They have conducted interviews with key figures, had great networking opportunities across the industry and the wider community, and most importantly they have had the chance to receive one-to-one support from an experienced and established journalist in Andrea Perry.

It has been my honour and absolute pleasure to facilitate this project in my capacity as editor of this Youth Edition. On behalf of the Youth Editorial team, The Chronicle and the Palace for Life Foundation, I would like to thank everyone who has supported this project.